“In some parts of the state, there were dozens of black people who came in to vote. Nobody in town knew them.”

As detailed in the earlier piece, Webster not only felt compelled to investigate this attempt at “voter fraud,” he has, in fact, expressed concerns – throughout his tenure as GOP chair – with other voter fraud demographics: students, Chinese; now, the aforementioned “black people.”

“It was my intention to talk not about race, but about perceived voting irregularities,” Webster said in a written statement. “However, my comments were made without proof of wrongdoing and they had the unintended consequence of casting aspersions on an entire group of Americans. For that, I am truly sorry.”

While making clear his concerns regarding the “dozens, dozens of black people who came in and voted on Election Day” were not the expressed views of his party, other GOP members of the state of Maine remain incensed:

Lance Dutson, a well-known Republican operative who worked for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Maine House Speaker Robert Nutting and ran this year’s U.S. Senate campaign of Charlie Summers, said Thursday that Webster should resign immediately.

“Webster’s statements should be cause for immediate resignation,” Dutson wrote on Twitter. “Any GOP who values future of party should demand same.”